We Need To Rediscover Ubuntu

Ubuntu: "I am what I am because of who we all are." (From a translation offered by Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee.)

I actually stumbled on the meaning of the word Ubuntu by accident this evening, while watching Jacob's Cross. Of course I had heard of the word in computer circles, the operating system that's a variant of Linux, but I certainly was not aware that behind Ubuntu was a very interesting concept or philosophy, and the fact that it was something unique to Africa. So I decided to do a little research.

Ubuntu, from what I have been able to garner, is very much in consonance with the concept of interdependence as preached by Stephen Covey his bestseller, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey, in his book, talked about a Continuum of Maturity, which represents the bridge between low and high effectiveness. Milestones along the continuum represent stages of Dependence, Independence, and Interdependence. According to Wikipedia, Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows:

A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?

It appears the whole point of Ubuntu is essentially interdependence, which is exactly the same concept Covey has postulated. You first learn how to become independent, and stand on your own, then you unite with your fellows and ultimately depend on each other. It's a noble concept, without a doubt. Why should it concern us? I'll seek to answer.

Sometimes,you tend to wonder what it is all about, why and how it is that we seem to be self-absorbed, and obsessed with the pursuit of self-preservation and advancement of self. We Nigerians are particularly ultra-competitive and, I dare say, quite selfish. We treat each other oftentimes more with contempt than respect, and seem to be more interested in getting one over the next person. We go to great lengths, and ultimately achieve measures of independence. But we inherently don't trust each other, and end up competing against each other. Small wonder we hardly ever achieve beyond the individual.

We need to imbibe Ubuntu.